The pairwise velocity dispersion of galaxies: luminosity dependence and a new test of galaxy formation models

Abstract

We present the first determination of the pairwise velocity dispersion (PVD) for galaxies in different luminosity intervals using the final release of the Two-Degree Field Galaxy Redshift Survey (2dFGRS). We have discovered quite surprisingly that the relative velocities of the faint galaxies at small separation are very high, around $700 \kms$, reaching similar values as the brightest galaxies. At intermediate luminosities $M^*-1$ ($M^*$ is the characteristic luminosity of the Schechter function), the relative velocities exhibit a well defined steep minimum near $400 \kms$. This result has been derived using a novel method to determine the real space power spectrum and the PVD from the redshift space power spectrum of the 2dFGRS. Both quantities can be determined quite reliably. We have taken the parameter $\beta$ equal to 0.45. But we have also checked that the results are changed very little, if we allow a variation of $\beta$ with luminosity. The result is a challenge to the current halo model of galaxies of Yang et al. that was obtained by matching the clustering and luminosity function of the 2dFGRS, but cannot reproduce the luminosity dependence of the PVD. It may also be an mportant constraint in general on theories of galaxy formation, such as semi-analytical models and hydro/N-body simulations of galaxy formation. Combined with the observed luminosity dependence of clustering, our result implies that a substantial fraction of faint galaxies, as well as the brightest ones, are in massive halos of galaxy cluster size, but most of the $M^*$ galaxies are in galactic halos.